


Vacation

by MamaBear7319



Series: The Happier, Friendlier Timeline (2014) [12]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:02:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27106162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MamaBear7319/pseuds/MamaBear7319
Summary: Peter needs a vacation.
Series: The Happier, Friendlier Timeline (2014) [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934734
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	1. A Really Bad Idea

"I just think it's really bad idea."

Bucky and Sam glanced over at each other. Peter had been on the phone for the last ten minutes. It was a little hard not to overhear at least Peter's side of the conversation. Bucky had figured out a couple minutes into it that Peter was talking to MJ. He looked over at the teen who was pacing in front of the kitchen.

"I can't tell you why you can't go. I'm just telling you not to go."

Bucky and Sam both cringed. Even without know what Peter was talking about, they knew that was the absolutely worst thing he could have said.

"Fine!"

Bucky reached up and snagged Peter's phone out of the air as it came flying across the room. Setting it on the table he looked over at the teen who had jumped over the back of the sofa and settled into the corner with his arms crossed in one fluid movement. "Want to talk about it."

Peter growled. "MJ broke up with me. So there's that."

Sam sat his controller down. "Just a tip going forward...you can't tell a female not to do something. Especially not one like MJ."

Peter glared at Sam. "She's spending the summer in Africa. Do you remember that op we did a couple months ago? She'll be about 50 miles from there. But I can't tell her why she can't go because it's all classified. I even offered to go with her which made things even worse. She said she didn't need Spider-Man to save her from anything. That she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself."

Bucky smiled. "I can fix that. Not the telling her part. But the keeping her safe. All of our intel came from Wakanda's War Dogs. Nakia is embedded in that area. We can get her to keep an eye on her."

Peter rolled around the idea. He had met Nakia briefly when they were doing the post mission briefing. She seemed a lot like MJ. "You think she'll agree to it?"

Bucky nodded. "I'll get a message to her." He handed Peter a game controller. "So, problem solved. Next question. Why are you at the compound. And why isn't Tony?"

"Morgan started teething. I just needed a break. Dad was the one that suggested it." Peter took the controller and waited for the game to start. "He almost came with me but Pepper said no."

XXXXXXXXXX

Graduation was more of a hassle than anything else. Peter wished he could have just skipped it. He put on the stupid cap and gown and smiled for all of the pictures. He envied Bobby. His graduation consisted of a handshake with Professor X and a nice dinner. Peter was forced to endure two full days of festivities both at school and at home. Home was at least manageable. May, Happy, Pepper, and Tony were predictable. Over the top as usual, but predictable. And he at least had Morgan as backup. School was another matter entirely. The entire time was spent trying not to watch MJ. The only thing that made him feel moderately better was the fact that MJ looked just as miserable as he felt. But that only served to simultaneously make him feel worse because he didn't want her to be miserable. It was an odd sensation.

After MJ left for Africa, Peter made a point to get daily briefings on the region. That is until FRIDAY banned him from the operations center at the compound. Then, he had to spend an extraordinary amount of time trying to talk, or in some cases bribe, the other Avengers into feeding him intel. Steve threatened to take away his clearance after the first week. Steve couldn't kick him out of the compound but he could restrict his access. Bucky tried to continue to pass him information. At least until Steve threatened to cut off his access as well. It finally took Steve calling Tony and getting him to intervene.

"Kid, Pepper has broken up with me more times than I can count because I've gone overboard on being protective. There is a fine line and you're way past it." Tony watched Peter pace around their living area at the compound.

"You know how dangerous it is there."

Tony rubbed his hand across his face. "And Bucky has T'Challa and Nakia watching the area. I'm not sure you fully comprehend how capable they are. The only reason we went in was because it's a neighboring nation to Wakanda and if T'Challa goes in and does an op that big alone it looks like Wakanda is invading."

"I know they're capable. I just need to be doing something." Peter looked over at his dad.

"You need a distraction. You're obsessing over something you can't control This isn't about the area being dangerous. The warlords are in custody. It’s about MJ." Tony crossed his arms and looked at his son. MJ and Peter had broken up a couple times before but this time seemed a little more permanent.

"She broke up with me because she thought I was being overbearing and smothering her. But she's spending 8 weeks in an area that isn't the safest. I think I'm justified in being a little overbearing."

Neither one of them had realized that Pepper had walked into the room until they heard her patented "No."

Looking in the direction it had come from Peter and Tony saw Pepper standing outside Morgan's bedroom. Arms crossed she walked over to the duo. "Peter, is T'Challa capable of handling something if it comes up?"

"Yes."

"In all of the briefings you've seen on the area has there been anything that makes you think something is going to happen?" Pepper eyed the teen because she could predict his answer at this point.

"No, but..."

"Stop. Pack your bags. I'll call Mrs. Leeds and Charles. Tony is right." She paused long enough to give Tony a look that said 'Don't you dare say a word'. "You need a distraction. We're going on vacation. Think of it as a Senior trip with Ned and Bobby before everyone heads off to college."

Peter frowned. In the entire time he had known Tony and Pepper he had never seen them take a vacation. Maybe a weekend here or there but nothing he would classify as a 'vacation'. Of course he didn't really think he had a good grasp on what constituted a 'vacation'. He, May, and Ben hadn't really taken many vacations. "What?"

"A vacation. Somewhere different. Can't be anywhere too remote since we'll have Morgan with us."

Tony smiled and looked over at Pepper. "How about Hawaii? You've used the house, what...twice?"

Peter looked at Tony in astonishment. "You have a house in Hawaii?" He knew about the building in Hong Kong and knew that Pepper had a house in California. Tony had also bought a house outside of Boston for Peter and Bobby to live in while they were at MIT. He had no idea there was a house in Hawaii.

"Pepper has a house in Hawaii." Tony corrected. "Christmas present one year."

Pepper rolled her eyes when Peter laughed. "Hawaii is a great idea. The boys will have plenty to do and it's secluded enough that we shouldn't have to deal with reporters."

Peter cringed. He had quickly discovered that he didn't really like the media. They had so far been able to keep his and Tony's actual relationship quiet. It had been discussed and the pros and cons had been weighed. Tony had wanted to tell the world that Peter was his son. Peter and Pepper had been completely against the idea and had eventually won. Peter didn't deal well with being the center of attention so he hated the idea of having to endure any kind of press conference. He liked their quiet life where they could pretend they were a normal family.

After Morgan's birth, it's like there was a competition to see who could get the first picture of her. Peter decided at that point that most reporters were vultures. The lengths everyone had to go to in order to avoid someone shoving a camera in their face was ridiculous. Peter stared at the two adults. "You want to go to Hawaii?"

"Yep...pack your bags.”


	2. Hawaii

Peter stepped off the steps of the jet and looked at the landscape in front of him. It was unlike anything he had seen. He, Bobby, and Ned has been glued to the windows of the jet as soon as land had come into sight, breaking up the expanse of blue. But, actually looking at the view in front of him was something entirely different. He heard movement behind him and turned to look at Ned who wasn't looking in the direction of the cliff overlooking the ocean but at a huge house.

"Awesome!" Ned murmured as he looked at his friend. "I can't believe Ms. Potts has a house in Hawaii you didn't know about."

Peter smiled. He had never asked. Something told him that Tony and Pepper probably owned a lot of property he didn't know about. It just wasn't important to him. It never had been.

Morgan caught sight of her brother and instantly threw her arms out. Tony frowned as he handed her off to Peter. If Peter was anywhere within her line of vision she demanded that he pay attention to her. Luckily, Peter was always willing to spend time with her. Tony sighed and adjusted his bag to compensate for not having Morgan on one side. Peter, on the other hand, had no trouble managing a 6 month old and his bag. Perks of having super strength.

Everyone made their way inside. The boys froze in the entrance as Tony pointed them in the direction of their wing. "I can't believe we have a 'wing'." Bobby looked around in amazement. He had experienced culture shock going from his family's tiny apartment in New York to Professor Xavier's school but this was on a whole other level. "Whoa...check out the pool."

Peter and Ned looked in the direction Bobby was staring. Tony, anticipating the question, nodded. "Yes, you can change and get in the pool. Pep and I will get Morgan settled."

Morgan instinctively tightened her grip around Peter's neck. Peter grinned. "Or, you and Pepper get settled and Morgan and I can explore this side of the house." Peter followed the other two boys, Morgan in one arm, bag still thrown over the other shoulder.

Within the hour, all three boys were in the pool and Morgan was attempting a nap. Attempting being the operative word. Giving up on the nap, Morgan and Pepper joined Tony under a cabana and watched the boys in the pool.

Tony realized he enjoyed watching Peter just be a teenager. More often than not he spent his days and nights watching Peter take on more than most adults would or could. He, himself, had never been big on vacations. In his younger years, what probably seemed like vacations to the average person were incredibly stressful for him. He honestly couldn't remember a time that he had relaxed. He wasn't sure he knew what it meant to relax. But, he was guessing that he was experiencing a moment of it now. As far has he knew, there was no pending threat, no Stark Industries emergency, Peter hadn't taken on any supervillains recently, and everyone was healthy. He knew it wouldn't last, but for now it was nice.

XXXXXXXXXX

The boys discovered a path that led down to the beach and spent the majority of their days alternating between the pool and the beach. Peter loved being in water. He had been swimming before and was a fairly proficient swimmer but had never really spent time under the water. There just wasn't much to see in the Atlantic Ocean, the beach at Coney Island and some of the others I'm the area were really the only time he'd been in the ocean. The ocean here was full of fish and coral. He even saw a couple of sea turtles. The boys finally figured out that if they had snorkel gear they could stay under longer so they talked Tony into letting them drive into the nearest town to buy gear.

Ned and Bobby looked at Peter when he came out of his room wearing a baseball cap and hoodie. "That really works?"

Peter shrugged. "Yeah, for some reason people look past you." With the press hounding Tony and Pepper after Morgan had been born, Peter had quickly embraced baseball caps and hoodies at Tony's suggestion. They all knew the fact that he was Tony's biological son would come out eventually but he wanted to put it off as long as possible.

He pulled the car out of the garage and they made their way down the mountain into the closest town. Snorkel gear secured they decided to stop at a local restaurant for lunch. Peter still had a baseball cap on but had let the hood fall back. He smiled at his two friends as they discussed the latest Fortnite season. He was glad Tony had encouraged him to get to know Bobby. He was a great guy and it was nice to have someone to talk to who wasn't 100% normal. He thought of Ned as almost a brother but there were times that Ned just couldn't understand what he was going through. Ned always thought his powers and abilities were cool. There were times that Peter hated his abilities...well, maybe hate was too strong of a word. He was content to be lost in his thoughts until he heard "...Stark...". He looked around and realized that it had come from the table next to them.

"I heard it was Stark and that girlfriend of his. Not many other people have access to a jet that can take off and land in their front yard."

"Wonder what they're doing here. Shouldn't Stark be out pretending to save someone? Or pretending to be inventing something?"

"Or destroying something."

Ned looked over at Peter. "We should go."

Peter shook his head. "It's fine."

"It's really not. Ned's right. We should go." Bobby glanced over at the group at the table. It would be easy to change the temperature of their food. He thought better of it when he realized how calm Peter was seemed.

"They both keep telling me to ignore stuff like this. Which is exactly what we're going to do." He noticed their waitress coming over with their food and shifted his arms out of the way. She sat their plates down in front of them just in time to hear another rant about Tony Stark. She smiled at the three boys and make sure they didn't need anything before swinging around to the other table and slapping their check down.

"Tony Stark is quite possibly one of the most amazing men in this generation. Not only is he a visionary and a genius, he risks his life time and time again to save people. People just like you. So instead of bashing someone you've never met why don't you do a little bit of fact checking. The number of people that he has saved as Iron Man is mind boggling. I know this for a fact because my mother was one of them. She was on the president's plane when it was targeted. When she was plummeting to earth she thought she was going to die. Until she and everyone else that had been tossed out of the plane were snagged out of mid air by Iron Man." Not waiting for a response she walked away leaving the table of people in shock.

Peter had to fight back a grin at the looks on their faces. He completely enjoyed his food and left a ridiculously large tip when they left.

XXXXXXXXXX

The boys spent the entire afternoon snorkeling. When they bought the gear the man at the store had warned them that even though it didn't seem like a strenuous activity it would wear them out quickly. When Pepper suggested a movie none of them protested. Peter thought Ned would be out before 8:00. Bobby would probably make the end of the movie but would then sleep like a rock. Peter just felt like he had done a normal patrol. A few minutes into the movie he heard his dad's phone vibrate.

Tony looked down at his phone and stood up when he saw who it was. Answering it as he walked down the hall towards his bedroom, he was aware Peter was following him. "You know we're on vacation, right?"

"I know. Forget I called."

Tony had put the phone on speaker after Peter had shut the door behind him. "You might as well at least tell us what's going on."

Peter heard Steve audibly sigh. "There was an attack in Hong Kong. Same weapons as we found in Africa. The group didn't make a clean escape and they have hostages. China is asking for help. One of their hostages is the Chinese presidents' niece."

Peter watched his dad. He had been paying attention enough in civics class in school to know how big of a deal it was that China was asking for help. And he knew how big of a presence SI had in Hong Kong. If Iron Man didn't show up when the Avengers were asked for help, SI would face the consequences. He answered Steve without giving his dad the chance. "We'll be there. Send the info to FRIDAY."

Tony clinched his jaw. This was the very last thing he wanted to do. "When?"

"We're leaving within the hour which means you two have about three hours." Steve knew Tony's jet was slightly faster than the Quinjet. "Tony, I'm sorry."

"Yeah. See you in Hong Kong." Tony disconnected the call and looked at Peter. "You don't have to go."

"If you're going. I'm going." Peter crossed his arms. He really didn't expect a fight about it.

Tony let out a sigh. "Grab your gear. We'll need to leave soon. Easiest place to land is going to be the SI tower instead of going to the airport."

Peter headed to his room and grabbed his bag before going back to the living room. He could tell from the look on Pepper's face she had already guessed that he and Tony had to leave. The looks of confusion on Ned and Bobby's face told him that they had no idea what was going on. He saw Tony coming out of Morgan's room. "We should be back tomorrow night. Hold down the fort." Peter smiled at Bobby and Ned. Ned had realized what Tony and Peter were doing and would fill Bobby in after they left.

Tony leaned over and kissed Pepper. "I love you. We'll be back tomorrow night."

Pepper and the two boys watched Tony and Peter walk out. After the door closed she turned to look at the two boys. "I'm going to check on Morgan then go to bed. Don't stay up too late."


	3. Home

Pepper thought she had heard Morgan but then the noise quieted down so Pepper snuggled back under the covers. She woke up again when she heard another noise and forced herself out of bed. She realized while she was pulling her robe on that Tony was asleep next to her. He had gotten much better at sneaking into bed without waking her up. She wasn't even aware that he and Peter had made it back. Logic dictated that they had both returned unhurt. If Peter had been hurt, Tony wouldn't be in bed. He'd be right next to his son. If Tony had been hurt there's no way Peter would have let him just go to bed. She smiled at the fact that Peter could get Tony to do things that no one else would have been able to. She was already guessing that Morgan would have the same effect.

She headed down the hall to Morgan's room when she saw a faint glow from the living room. Changing direction she headed for the living room to find Peter nestled on the couch with Morgan and an empty bottle on the table next to them. "Want me to take her?"

Peter shook his head. "Go back to sleep. I thought I got her in time not to wake you or dad up."

Pepper picked up the empty bottle. "Peter you've got to be tired. She's almost back to sleep anyway."

"Sleeping on the couch with my baby sister is exactly what I want to be doing right now." He formed one of the web-shooters and quickly spun almost a cocoon around Morgan, securing her to his chest. "There, now you don't have to worry about her falling off." He grinned up at Pepper.

Pepper smiled and started to walk out. She paused and looked back and saw Peter with his hand resting on Morgan's back. "Peter, are you sure you're ok."

Peter looked back at Pepper from his position on the couch. "I'm ok. It was a hard trip."

"Peter...". Pepper didn't know what to say that hadn't been said a million times before. "Peter, I wish you didn't feel like you needed to do this."

"I know. Pepper, I do this because I can. I wish bad people didn't exist in this world. For Morgan and all of the other kids out there. But they do. And they keep doing bad things. So as long as they do bad things, I'm going to keep fighting them."

"Because you can." Pepper set her jaw. She it was a repeat of every conversation after every not so good mission.

"Because I can." He looked over at Pepper again. "And because I can, if I didn't and something happened...I couldn't live with myself." He thought back to right after his uncle had been killed. The guilt had been overwhelming. May had been the only thing that had held him together.

Pepper walked over, leaning over she kissed Peter on the forehead. "I hope you know how much you are loved. Come get me if she wakes up." She stood up and left the room leaving Peter and Morgan safely ensconced on the couch. She understood that Peter needed to make sure Morgan was safe right now. She also knew that she would never know what had happened. The fact that Tony was asleep meant that they had talked everything out on the way home. Part of her wanted to know but a bigger part of her knew she couldn’t handle the danger they put themselves into. She was just glad that right now, in this moment, they were both safe.

XXXXXXXXXX

"So how many countries have you been to?" Bobby and Ned had woken up to find Tony and Peter back but, unlike Pepper, they were frustrated that Peter wasn't offering up details.

Peter was used to fending off Ned's questions. Adding Bobby to the mix was making it more challenging. "I have never been out of the country. You can check my passport. It's completely blank."

"Well, we all know that's not true." Bobby looked at his friend. They had talked superhero stuff before. Part of what Professor Xavier taught them was how to use their powers. Mainly defensive, but there was some offensive training as well. They all understood the world they lived in. Peter just lived a little deeper in that world than the rest of them. "Can you at least tell us if you're done or if you and Mr. Stark are going to have to leave again?"

Peter smiled. "We should not have to leave again. Plus, I think we're heading home in another couple days. Pepper keeps reminding me that we all have to pack for college. He looked over at Ned, "Of course you're actually closer to Cal Tech from here. But I don't think your mom would be ok with you leaving for school from here."

Ned shook his head. "No, but if I did I could probably avoid all of the tears."

Bobby and Peter weren't entirely sure if Ned was talking about himself or his mother. Ned had made the decision to go to Cal Tech because their computer program was slightly better than MIT's. But, he was struggling with being so far away. While Peter was wallowing in the fact that his circle of friends was breaking up, he had realized that it was going to be hard on all of them. He was a 4 hour drive away from home. His dad could come up any time. Ned was going to be a 5 hour flight plus having to deal with getting in and out of an airport. MJ...MJ still wasn't really talking to him. He had gotten a picture of MJ and some orphans in response to one of the texts he had sent her. And then another picture of her and Nakia. After that one he figured that she knew he had people checking on her. He had gotten a status update in Hong Kong. She was ok and headed back to the states next week.

Figuring he wasn't getting anywhere with Peter, Bobby changed subjects. "Ned, do who your roommate is yet?"

Ned shook his head. He was entering Cal Tech as a sophomore just like Peter was since they had both done dual enrollment their last two years of high school but unlike Peter, his mother was making him live in the dorms his first year. "They send them out next week. I'm hoping that I'll at least be on the same floor as some of the people who were at that coding camp."

Peter frowned. "You mean the one where you all created a virus that almost destroyed all life in Pennsylvania?"

Ned nodded, "A couple of them are going to Cal Tech. At least I'll know someone."

"Wait, back up to 'destroy all life'". Bobby looked between Peter and Ned. "What did you do?"

Ned adopted a look of innocence. "It wasn't that bad."

"Wasn't that bad? I nearly froze to death. And the walls were crying. It is still the creepiest thing I've had to deal with." Peter glanced over at Bobby and cringed. "But I wasn't actually there."

Bobby shook his head. "Yeah...I don't believe that. I'm just glad we don't have to live in the dorm."

"Have you two actually seen the house?"

Peter nodded in response to Ned's question. "I thought if I went with him I'd be able to rein him in but you know how he is."

"I've just seen pictures." Bobby shrugged.

"Well, I would definitely rather be living with you two than in the dorm."

XXXXXXXXXX

Peter, Bobby, and Ned hated to leave the island. They had squeezed in as much as they could before they left. Now that Tony and Pepper knew how much they enjoyed it, they made a conscious decision to try to force themselves to actually take trips. Tony was astonished at how much he enjoyed himself. They all regretfully boarded the jet and left the island behind. The flight back was relatively subdued as were the weeks following. Ned left for California a couple weeks later. Peter and MJ exchanged some texts before she headed to Princeton. Peter tried to squeeze as much time as Spider-Man as possible, blowing his curfew multiple times. It was partially a distraction from MJ but also because he knew he wouldn't be able to do it in Boston.

Bobby and Peter were the last to leave. Tony found himself fighting the urge to just stay in Boston. He had been offered multiple positions over the years and with the amount he donated to MIT he truly could have opted to stay. But, he knew Peter needed to stand on his own and he was looking forward to spending time with Morgan since Pepper was heading back to work full time. Pepper had been mainly working from home since Morgan was born and it was time to get back to work full time. A new normal was emerging. Tony just hoped that it was one they could adjust to.


End file.
